j's industrial @ Mythical Markings

i had been debating between (for some reason with me it's not so much a matter
of it as it is a question of when and what) getting either a tragus or an
industrial ever since i got my last piercings (both nipples, before that was
my tongue and both lobes) when i saw some pics of industrials on BME i knew i
had found it, this was just too cool to pass up. on thurday october 1st i
went to Mythical Markings (BTW if you ever happen to be in knoxville stop by,
he does great work) to have my right lobe repierced, as it had been ripped out
in a fight a while back. while i was there i asked Dale (the tattoo artist/
piercer) about industrials and he gave me a talk through version of the
procedure so i'd know what i was getting into. we found a barbell that was
big enough (2" in length at 14 ga.) and he asked me if i could come back on
friday because he had to autoclave it. while i was dying to have it i didn't
want to be a prick so i said sure. friday was a wash so i ended up having it
done on the following saturday. i grabbed my best friend j.p. (who's used to
this by now because i made him go with me for my tongue too) and told him to
drive and off we went.

THE GLORY

saturday afternoon came and found us at mythical markings waiting for dale to
finish up a tattoo. while that was getting done i was filling out my
paperwork and getting my license copied while j.p. drooled over the flash on
the walls) finally i was ushered into the back room with j.p. and daled wife
in tow. this being the second industrial he's done i guess it was a special
occasion.

i sat in the dentist chair and my right ear was wiped down with isopropyl
alcohol and he told me basically what was going to happen after we talked for
a while and he listened to me bed him to let me apprentice. he started
opening all the autoclave packaat this point i started to get pretty nervous.
don't know why, i've done this sort of thing before, i just got nervous.
anyway...as he couldn't really use forceps on it, we decided to freehand the
upper piercing and use a recieving tube on the bottom so he doesn't get a
stick and get john cooties. i might note here that not every piercer uses the
same procedure on a piece of work, other people's experiences might be
different.

THE PAIN

after i was prepped we went for it. with an audible POP! in went the needle
on the first piercing, followed very closely by the barbell and appreciable
pain. after a couple seconds wait for the needle to be regooped (i don't know
what he uses, possibly some sort of gelatinous alcohol mixture), the needle
went into the bottom part with LOTS more pain and into the receiving tube to
be corked, after this the barbell was inserted. at this point i was just kind
of laying there trying not to have an out of body experience and enjoying the
rush that keeps bringing me back to the chair. At the very end of the job
they have a policy to make sure the client witnesses the needle used on them
being broken and put in a sharps container, you also have to sign out saying
you did so when you pay them.

MORE GLORY

after we finished i stood up to go and pay the man, Dale handed me an alcohol
soaked paper towel to use until the blood clotted. he looked at it for a
second and said

"i gotta get a picture of this"

so now i'm in his portfolio in addition to having a kick ass piercing. = )
after he politely lightened my wallet we went on our way.

CHECK UP

the 27th of october found me back at the shop to get things checked out and
make sure everythings where it's supposed to be (i would reccomend this to
everyone BTW). we found that there was a little bit of a problem with the
industrial because the barbell fit a little too snugly and the balls were
right up against the holes causing the wounds not to be able to breath, and
so we took it out, cleaned it, and decided to try a new cleaning technique
that involves me bending my ear almost double so the ends slide up the barbell
to meet each other which allows me to get all the crusties off that are
causing the problems. right now everythings working out fine and i love it.

Anyway, I guess that's it, if you're considering getting an idustrial be
advised that it does hurt more than nipple and tongue and other such piercings
(just for a point of comparison) but it is a really cool piercing. Glad to
help if I was able to.

j

Details

submitted by: Anonymouson: 15 Nov. 1998in
Ear Piercing

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